Ink unit for marking machines



Sept 12, 1950 H. R. FLETCHER INK UNIT FOR MARKING MACHINES 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 17, 15 15 INVENTOR.

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ATTORNEYS H. R. FLETCHER INK UNIT FOR MARKING MACHINES Sept. 12, 1.950 7 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed NOV. 17, 1945 INVENTQR. V

chef" M4M Hcm'j R. Fleb ATTORNEYS Sept. 12, 1950' H. R. FLETCHER INK UNIT FOR MARKING MACHINES 3 Sheets-Shea 5 File& Nov. 17;; 1945 i ,1; UH II II IUL INVENTOR.

r e In c U I N Fl ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 12, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 1 c c r 2,522,218.

. INK UNIT FOR MAR-KING MACHINES Harry Fletcher, Keene, N. H., assignor to Markem Machine Company, Keene, N. H., a V corporation of New Hampshire Application November 17, 1945, Serial No. 629,285

" 4 Claims.

-This invention relates to marking or printing machines and especially to the inking mechanism for inking the type. In orderto give an understanding of my invention, I have illustrated it as it might be embodied in a marking machine of the type' shown in the Robbins Patent No. 2,277,884, March 31, 1942, but I wish it understood that the present invention is not limited for use in connection with the particular type of marking machine shown in the above patent but is adaptable for use in connection with a wide variety of other marking machines.

In the operation of marking shoe linings and other similar articles it is frequently necessary or desirable to make a change in the color or character of the ink being used.

One of the objects of my present invention is to 'provide a novel ink unit which is so constructed that theoperation of making a change in the color or character of the ink being used in a marki'ng machine canbe expeditiously performed by the operator and without the necessity of her getting ink smeared on, her hands or clothes during such operation. g

Another object of my invention is to providea novel ink supply unit which is adapted to supply ink to the inking roll of the marking machine and which is provided with an ink-delivery roll and an ink-spreading platearranged so that at each pass of the ink roll of themarking machine over the ink supply unitsaid inkjrollwill pick up a small quantity of ink from the ink-delivery roll and the ink will be evenly distributed over the surface of the ink roll during the movement of the latter over the ink-spreading plate.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved ink supply unit for marking niachine having various novel features which will be morefully hereinafter set forth.

In the drawings wherein 'I have illustrated a selected embodiment of myinvention;

Fig. l is a side view of a marking machine of the type illustrated in said Patent 2,277,884 equipped with my improved ink supply unit.

Fig. 2 is an end view of Fig. 1 with the type wheels removed from the printing head and with parts of the frame broken out.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged section on the line 3-3, Fig. 2. V

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but showing the ink supply unit in section taken on the line 4-4, Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a top plan view of the ink supply unit said view also showing the i'nkroll of the marking.

machine.

Fig. 6 is a section on the line 6--6, Fig. 3.

Fig. 7 is a section on the line Fig. 3.

The marking machine herein illustrated, and which, as stated above, is similar to that shown in said Patent No. 2,277,884, comprises a supporting frame I on which is mounted an elongated supporting member 2 carrying at its outer end a plurality of adjustable type wheels 3. The supporting member 2 isshown as having an L-shaped arm 4 extending from each side, each arm carrying a stud 5 which isjournaled in the side wall 5 of the frame I, said studs constituting the pivot about which the supporting member 2 swings to move the type wheels 3 toward and from the platen or work support 1. said supporting member is thus in the nature of a rocker member and it is given its oscillating movement from a drive shaft 8 carried by the frame which has an eccentric 9 mounted thereon, the eccentric strap I!) of which has an arm extending therefrom which is pivotally connected to the rocker member 2 as indicated at I2.

The printing machine is also provided with an ink roll I3 which is supported in a carriage l4 that is adapted to travel back and forth in ways I5 with which the supporting member 2 is provided, the forward movement of the ink roll it carrying itacross the type of the printing wheels which are in printing position thereby to ink the latter.

The means for reciprocating the carriage I4 comprises a lever l6 pivoted at H to the frame and having its upper end pivotally connected to an arm I8 extending from the eccentric strap It, the lower end of the arm I6 being connected by two links l9 to the carriage I l.

The rotation of the eccentric 9, therefore, operates not only to swing the rocker or supporting member 2 about its Pivots '5 thereby to move the type wheels 3 toward and from the platen. but it also operates through the lever l6 and links ill to reciprocate the ink roll l3 thereby to ink the type wheels.

The parts thus far described are similar to those illustrated in the above-mentioned Patent No. 2,277,884 and form no part of my present invention which relates to an ink supply unit for supplying ink to the ink roll I3.

Such ink supply unit comprises an ink-reser voir member 20 which is provided with an ink-receiving well 2| and it also comprises an ink-delivery roll 22 which is partially submerged in the well 2|, togetherwith an ink-spreading plate 23 which covers the Well 2| and is provided with an opening 24 through which the upper portion of the ink-delivery roll 22 projects.

This ink supply unit is so mounted on the supporting member 2 that during the forward and backward traveling movement of the ink roll 13, the latter will roll across the ink-spreading plate 23 in contact therewith and will also roll across the ink-delivery roll 22. I

Said ink-delivery roll 22 is preferably mounted so that it is free to rotate, said roll being carried by a spindle 25, the ends of which are journaled in the side walls of the ink-reservoir member 20.

Any suitable means for mounting the ink-reservoir member 20 in its proper position may be employed without departing from my invention, but I prefer to use a mounting means so constructed that the ink-reservoir member can be easily and quickly removed from the machine and as easily and quickly be replaced by another ink-reservoir member.

As herein shown, the ink-reservoir member 28 is mounted on a reservoir-supportingmember in the form of a plate 26 which is supported at its ends by two bracket elements 27 which are attached to the lower ends 28 of the arms 4 by means of suitable bolts 29. The supporting plate 2.6 is shownv as secured to the bracket arms 21 by means of screws 30.

To provide for easy removal of the ink-reservoir member 20 from the supporting plate 26 and also to provide for quick and accurate replacement ofsaid memberon the plate :26, I have provided said ink-reservoir member 29 with a depending clamping screw 3| which is provided with a knurled head32by which it may be turned, and I have also provided the supporting plate 26 at its front end with an open slot 33 adapted to receive the shank of the clamping screw 3].

The head 32 of the clamping screw is provided with a clamping flange 34 adapted to engage the underside of the supporting plate 26 when said screw is tightened and thereby the ink-reservoir member is firmly clamped to the plate. By backing off the screw, the clamping pressure is relieved thus making it possible to withdraw the ink-reservoir member 20 from the plate.

To maintain the ink-reservoir member properly positioned on the plate, said member is provided on its underside with a guiding groove 35 adapted to receive a stud 3B projecting upwardly from the supporting plate 26. The guiding groove 35' is an open ended groove so that when the clamping screw 3| is backed off, the ink-reservoir member may readily be withdrawn from the supporting plate 26 by a horizontal movement toward the right in Fig. 4. The installing of the ink-reservoir member on the supporting platen 26 involves merely moving the said-member over the plate in a direction toward the left in Fig. 4 thus causing the guiding stud 36 to enter the groove 35 and also causing the clamping screw 3! to enter the slot 33. When said ink-reservoir member is in place, it may be locked in such position by simply tightening the clamping screw 3|.

The ink spreading plate 23 is preferably removably attached to the ink-reservoir member 2!] so that it can be readily removed for the purpose of supplying ink to the we1l'2 I. As herein shown, said plate 23 has-a rib 31 on its underside at its inner end; .which rib has a nose portion 38 adapted to engage in a recess 39 with which the wall of the ink-reservoir member 20 is provided. The opposite or right-hand end .of the ink-spreading plate 23 has a depending spring arm -401S80l118d thereto resiliently engaging the 4 right-hand end of the ink-reservoir member 20. Such resilient arm 40 is formed with an aperture 41 adapted to receive a locking pin 42 extending from the ink-reservoir member 20.

The ink-spreading plate 23 may be removed from the member 20 by pressing forwardly on the lower end 43 of the resilient arm 40 thereby to disconnectit from the pin 42 after'which the right-hand end of said'plate may be lifted up sufficiently to permit the nose 38 to be disengaged from the recess 39.

Fig. 1 of the drawings shows the marking machine in printing position, that is, with the rocker or supporting member 2 in its lowered position and the type wheels 3 in contact with the platen I or the work thereon. At this time the ink roll [3 is at the left-hand end of its travel and is in engagement with the left-hand end of the inkspreading plate 23. It will be remembered that the ink-reservoir member 20 is carried by the braeket-arms21 that are rigidly secured to the arms 4 and therefore said ink-reservoir member will have the same oscillating movement about the pivot 5 that the rocker member 2 has. In otherwords, said ink-reservoir member has a fixed position relative to the rocker or supporting member 2. As the rocker member 2 rises aftera printed impression has been made, the carriage I4 will be moved forwardly along the ways l5 and the-ink roll [3 will be rolled across the ink-spreading plate 23 .and then on into a position to ink the type wheels as shown in Fig.:8. During the rolling movement of the ink roll [3 across the ink-spreading plate 23, said ink .roll will roll over the ink-delivery roll 22 and will pick up therefrom a small quantity of ink. The continued rolling contact of .the ink roll with the ink-spreading. plate causes this ink to beevenly distributed .over the surface of the .ink roll l3 and thus said ink roll will-not only be continuously supplied .with ink, but such .ink will be spread evenly over the surface of the ink roll by the rolling contact thereof over the ink-spreading plate 23. During the descending movement of the rocker member 2, the .ink roll will .be .given a reverse or backward movement .from its forward position to its rearward position shown in Fig. 1, and during this reversemovement said ink roll will again roll across said ink-spreading plate 23, and the ink-delivery r011 22. During such backward or reverse movement of the ink roll, it will have a counterclockwise rolling movement over the ink-spreading plate 23.

If it becomes necessary at any time to changethe color or character of the ink being used in the machine, theink-reservoir member 20 can-be easily and quickly removed from its supporting plate 26 and .replaced by another ink-reservoir member carrying .thekindor color. of ink to which it is desired to change. The ink roll I3 which has been used can also be quickly and easily removed from the carriage I4 and a fresh ink roll beneath the latter in fixed position relative thereto, said plate having adjacent one edge an upstanding guiding stud and an open-ended slot in the other edge, an ink-reservoir member removably mounted on the plate and provided on its under side with an open-ended groove to receive said stud and also provided with a depending clamping screw to enter said slot and by which the ink-reservoir member is clamped to the plate, said member having an ink well, an ink-delivery roll partially submerged in said ink well, an ink-spreading plate covering said ink Well and provided with an opening through which the ink-delivery roll projects slightly, and means removably securing said ink-spreading plate to the ink-reservoir member.

2. A marking machine as in claim 1 in which the ink-reservoir member has a notch on its rear side adjacent the top and in which the inkspreading plate has a rib to engage said notch and a depending resilient arm at its front edge which yieldingly engages the front of the inkreservoir member, the latter having a retaining pin and said arm having an opening to receive said pin thereby to lock the ink-supporting plate in position.

3. A marking machine having a type wheel supporting arm, type wheels carried thereby, an ink roll beneath said arm and mounted thereon for movement longitudinally thereof toward and from the 'type wheels, 8. reservoir-supporting member situated beneath said arm and rigid therewith, an ink reservoir member carried by said reservoir-supporting member but removable bodily therefrom, said ink reservoir member having an ink well, an ink-delivery roll partially submerged in said well and an ink-spreading plate forming the top of the ink reservoir member and covering said well, said plate having an opening through which the upper portion of the ink-delivery roll projects, and releasable clamping means for clamping the ink reservoir member to the reservoir-supporting member, said ink reservoir member, when clamped to the reservoir-supporting member, having its ink-spreading plate in a plane parallel to the path of movement of the ink roll and so situated that during its to and fro movement the ink roll will have rolling contact with said ink-spreading plate and the ink-delivery roll.

4. A marking machine having a longitudinally extending type wheel supporting arm, type wheels carried thereby, an ink roll beneath said arm and mounted thereon for movement longitudinally thereof between a retracted position and a forward position in which it is beneath but in con tact with the type wheels, a supporting plate rigidly secured to said arm and situated beneath and spaced from the latter, an ink reservoir member carried by but removable bodily from said supporting plate, said reservoir member being situated between the supporting plate and said arm and having an ink well, an ink-delivery roll partly submerged in said ink well and an inkspreading plate forming the top of the reservoir member and covering the ink well, said plate having an opening through which the ink-delivery roll projects slightly, said ink-spreading plate, when the ink reservoir member is mounted on the supporting plate, being parallel to the path of movement of the ink roll and being so situated that said ink roll has a rolling contact with said ink-spreading plate and the delivery roll during its movement toward and from the type wheels, and releasable clamping means for clamping the removable ink reservoir member to the clamping plate.

HARRY R. FLETCHER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 155,765 Smith Oct. 6, 1874 401,542 Carty Apr. 16, 1879 772,577 Oertly Oct. 18, 1904 776,793 McGinty Dec. 6, 1904 4 917,117 Padgett Apr. 6, 1909 1,084,296 Rea Jan. 13, 1914 1,101,470 Putnam June 23, 1914 1,109,938 Putnam Sept. 18, 1914 1,202,194 Lang Oct. 24, 1916 1,456,447 Jenner May 22, 1923 1,630,583 Schick May 31, 1929 2,042,769 Buttner June 2, 1936 2,058,511 Rutkoskie Oct. 27, 1936 2,277,884 Robbins Mar. 31, 1942 

